What happens now?
by caro liney
Summary: A few decades into the future and the world's changed a lot since the war. And now Elsie's living in a bubble, two social classes constantly clashing. Then Chris and Ethan show up and shake up her life, just something I wrote for school


I awoke to the heady South-American sunlight filtering in through the roof and the constant pounding of the elements against the wall of the bubble. Another Chooser had chosen (for lack of a better word) me to do their bidding and so I sat up in bed waiting for the small, floating pixels in the corner of my eye to gather and generate an image. A young man appeared to stand before me – which I knew for a fact was just another nifty invention of our bubble village's engineers'. He was surprisingly handsome, about half a head taller than me, and well built with warm brown eyes and chestnut hair falling in all directions. Because 21st century clothing was the vogue, I was still in my pyjamas and he chuckled at my attire.

"Am I overdressed?" he teased, gesturing towards his light blue button-up shirt, whale bone pendant on what looked like twine and jeans. I shook my head and shrank away, frightened because most of the Chooser men who teased usually expected a bit more. But he instantly paled, understanding my line of thought. "Oh, no, I didn't mean it _that_ way. Come with me, all we need is your help." And he held his hand out as invitation, gesturing me towards the door – although I was still in a state of shock at his reaction to my reaction. He understood. "Just meet me at the town centre, I'm… hard to miss. I'm Chris, by the way." He tilted his head to the side and smiled a small sad smile at me. Then he was gone, the pixels separating, appearing as though they swirled away as they shaped the sudden breeze. I managed to, with due silent care, slip my satchel over my shoulder and put on a flowing dress made of layers of different shades of blue gossamer – my favourite piece of clothing, appropriate for the heat and a farewell gesture, just in case. And yet it still woke Amity up.

"Elsie, where are you going?" she squinted her almond shaped blue eyes, while sitting up on her elbows in bed in an effort to determine what was happening. "Oh. Well, I'll come with then. The Choosers oughtn't mind someone else coming out to help." She smiled, while I tried feebly to return it. What she said had worried me to no end; I really didn't want her to get into any trouble. "No, you won't Amity. I'll be fine. It's probably just another little errand they need someone to run. I'll be right back" _I hope. _You see,lately us Grovers out at the city limits have been disappearing. No one knows why and so the past few weeks have turned some into a paranoid wreck because "errands" turn into "never-come-back"-s.

I bolted out the door into the village, the bubble shield flickering occasionally on the outskirts, providing flurries of dancing rainbow coloured light. The endless shades of wild greenery enveloped it, peering past the buildings and hovering above the shield in a curtain-like manner. I walked past the idyllic, mud-brick, glass, weave or wooden homes into the smooth-cut central city, past people milling about, gossiping, laughing, plotting, meeting –everything. Honestly, not much has changed since before the Shock War fourteen odd years ago. The huge, formal town centre rose into view and I wandered up the steps like people did before to universities and held my breath. Upon entering the large double doors into the town centre, I saw him, straight away, exactly the same as he was earlier that morning. And not because I knew him so well, or had studied his face, but because he just stood out to me.

He walked over casually to meet me. "Hey, Elsie."

"Hi, Chris."

"Hmm… I was wondering whether you talked." he teased. I smiled. So maybe he was a teaser? He turned his head toward me, gave me a friendly grin and held out a necklace almost identical to his. "Hope you don't mind but we need you to try something out for us, okay?" Manoeuvring around me, he tied it around my neck and told me to close my eyes.

***

_They aren't seriously going to try it on _her_ are they?_ A self-conscious fifteen or sixteen year old girl walked into the town centre, her eyes quickly falling on Chris. Wisps of gossamer trailed behind her, heavy mahogany waves framing a fragile cream-and-roses face, hazel eyes set in an inquisitive manner. Not long after she had that stupid necklace tied around her neck – they're not going to stop, are they?! – she was writhing on the floor in agony. But one thing refuses to make sense. Instead of a look of pride and victory, Chris's face sunk, contorting into a mask of almost… misery? Maybe he wanted it to be different with her. I wouldn't blame him. I just wish it didn't work at all, so that I could return to my time but at the moment there's nothing left of it.

But this girl won't remember anything, and neither will her friend. And now to trust her with something that could make or break humanity.

***

_Hmm… What to do, what to –_

A faded gleam caught my eye for a second, and I went to investigate. Something shone, bronzed and rusty from underneath my bed. One look at Amity assured me she was asleep. Unable to help myself, I picked it up and examined it. It was a circular, ornate, old box, wrought iron vines twisted around the border that lead in all directions, converging upon the keyhole. It was warm and beating steadily, even though I'd just picked it up and I went to pull at the lid to see if it would budge. _Slash._ There was a loud noise, not unlike cutting the air, which knocked the box onto the hardwood floor. "Hey!" was my initial reaction as I looked around trying to process. "Hi to you too." smiled a stranger with hair in a golden tangle, piercing green eyes and small scars on his cheeks and left eyebrow. "Oh, hi, sorry…" I stumbled.

"Elsie, please don't open that box. Then _they_'ll know you. And you don't exactly want devices that can think for themselves going after you as soon as they get let out, do you?"

"What…? Who are _you_ and how do you _know_ my name?" suspicion seeped cold into my voice, although I don't think I meant it so harshly.

"Aaah, $#!+… excuse my French. Well I'm Ethan. And I guess you'll know the story sooner or later so might as well." Then came a pause while he deliberated. "I'm from a council, from a time not too far from now, but very… different from now. Does that… make sense? Well, I know you thought the Shock War was horrible with all those silent, deadly weapons but soon enough something worse will happen, to do with whatever's in that box. Did you notice that it was beating? Yupp. What do you know of with heartbeats? Wait, I hear someone coming."

"Oh, fudge." Amity sat up and looked at us, eyes wide with concern.

The door slammed open, dust rolling around from its impact against the wall. "Elsie." said a voice obviously calm, and uttered from someone with authority. It was the leader and his son. I turned, shaky, hoping that somehow Amity and Ethan weren't caught up in this. "Y-y-y-y-yes, sir?" I could make out Mr. Carsamon's expression, but not his son's. He looked like he recognized me and his expression was pained.

"Where's that box?" I looked around and Ethan, Amity and the box were gone. Phew. "Come with me young lady."

And he led me by the arm with a vice grip to his house, and a guest room which had the feel of an old institute or prison – cold and uninviting. The ground came to meet me and I was writhing in pain, memories fluttering to my eyelids. An arm draped around my shoulders carefully, as if I was the most delicate thing in the world, and I could feel tears that weren't my own fall on my cheeks, on the necklace I'd forgotten I was wearing. "Elsie, please tell me you'll be okay. I'm so sorry." Chris cooed as he brushed hair from my face.

I remember him now, but what about the future, Ethan's future? What does it hold now? And Amity, the closest thing I have to family?


End file.
